The Gowk Stane

Standing Stone / Menhir

The Gowk Stane (Standing Stone / Menhir) on The Modern Antiquarian, the UK & Ireland's most popular megalithic community website. 9 images, 1 fieldnote, 2 weblinks, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland.

Images (click to view fullsize)

Fieldnotes

Monday 2/8/04
I drive down to Auchencorth Farm to ask permission to visit this stone and am greeted by a friendly old farmer on his quad bike with his sheep dog on the back ‘aye, you can jist aboot see it fae here’. I drive back up to the main road and wander across the empty moorland in the direction of the ridge of the Pentland Hills dodging the flying ants. The stone stands about 1.8 metres high and is rectangular at the base though tapers up to a point towards the SSE. It’s aligned SSE/NNW. There are three massive grooves on the east side about 1 metre long and up to 10 cm deep. Above the grooves a panel has been chiselled off and apparently there is the fragmentary remains of well-cut Roman capitals on it, but I can only just about make out one or two letters.

Miscellaneous

From the RCAHMS CANMORE detailing the Latin carving;
The top portion of its E face, above two weathered vertical grooves, has been chiselled off to a depth of 3 1/2", and here, on a panel with a horizontal beading above and below is a fragmentary inscription in well-cut Roman capitals, which may not be ancient, and of which only a few letters are now legible. They are in three lines, ......RK....; TI....DUM...; and ..X...BOUNTI

Links

An entry from Ancient Stones, an online database that covers most of the standing stones, stone circles and other stones found in South East Scotland. Each entry includes details, directions, photograph, folklore, parking and field notes on each location.